AngloForce 3: The Woodwose Incident
by Julian Radbourne
Summary: With Anglo-Force falling apart at the seams, an alien General seeks revenge on an old enemy.


_Author's note: This story was originally written way, way back in the early 1990's, and forms part of my ongoing Anglo-Force series, which "borrows" characters and situations from various media that I've altered to suit my own needs._

**CHAPTER ONE**

The strange alien space-craft arrived in orbit around the planet Earth. The likes of this space-craft had not been seen near the Earth for some six months now. The last one, from the distant planet of Monstron, came to Earth to collect Count Dracula and the Frankenstein monster. This craft was on an entirely different mission.

The commanding officer, Colonel Chaney, strode onto the bridge.

"We are now in a standard orbit." said the helmsman.

"Is the device ready?" Chaney asked.

"The final adjustments are being made."

"I just hope that this primitive Ferengi technology works. When the device is complete, contact me. I shall be in my quarters."

Twenty minutes later, and all was complete. Chaney entered the shuttle bay. He closely inspected the device in front of him. He looked closely at the bright, glowing sphere, and then he inspected the propulsion system.

"Is the cloaking device attached?"

"All is ready, Colonel. We await your order."

"Launch the device. Set the cloaking device to activate when it is two hundred kilometres away, then set it to head towards the Earth city of London. It should seek out it's target there."

"Are you sure this will work, Colonel?"

"It must. The Monstron Empire must not have any enemies. The traitor has found new allies on this planet. If they help him then they must be destroyed too. Soon, the Monstron Empire will have no enemies, and we will be able to conquer inferior worlds such as this Earth. The universe is ours for the taking!"

Seconds later the small device left the shuttle bay of the Monstron ship. Two hundred kilometres away, and the cloaking device was activated. A minute after that, and it entered the Earth's atmosphere. All seemed to be going well. It was not picked up by radar from the surface.

On the frozen wastes of the North Pole, a castle stood. The castle seemed somewhat out of place in this frozen wilderness. Just to look at it, you would think it had been there for hundreds of years. In fact, it had been there for a very short period of time. It had been "constructed" by the wizard, Gandalf, as his home on Earth. It was also in this castle that he kept watch over the unfolding events on Earth. At this moment in time, the population of this planet had just finished celebrating the very last Christmas of the current millennium. It was two days before New Year's Eve, and the start of the new millennium, the start of the year 2000.

Gandalf sat in his room, gazing into his portal. A slight smile appeared on his face as he watched, through the portal, people enjoying themselves, preparing their celebrations. It was at this moment that the Captain, James Watt, entered the chamber. Gandalf got to his feet.

"My dear Captain, I thought you would have returned to London, to join in with the celebrations."

"This time of year you normally spend with your friends and family. At this point in time I have none. Magus is gone and Kate is rotting in some Russian prison on a charge of treason. How does that song go? Should old acquaintance be forgot…?"

"There is much to be done James. The balance of the universe still leans toward the dark side."

"And what happened to this so-called galactic force you wanted me to command?"

Watt followed Gandalf into a large chamber. At the end of the chamber was a huge portal.

"The Time Guardians are not needed all the time." explained Gandalf. "Although, all about this room you see chambers containing the forms of those under your command, they are only astral images of those I have chosen to carry out the first of many tasks. Look into the portal, Captain."

The image in the portal changed to that of a strange alien planet.

"Behold the planet Quasar! Behold Zandor, the mighty warrior. He possesses no special powers, but his skills in unarmed combat are unmatched. Also, there are those in other dimensions, parallel to your Earth, that I can select from. Behold!"

The image changed once again. It was replaced by an image of a ruined city, a civilization that looked almost totally destroyed. Then, a figure appeared.

"Another warrior with no special powers, except for those contained in his sun sword. Thundarr the Barbarian. He has learned to protect himself because he lives in a world of savagery!"

A shocked look appeared on Watt's face.

"It can't be! That's London! What year is this Gandalf?"

"It is the year 1995. But it is not the 1995 of your Earth. You must remember that there are many dimensions throughout the space-time continuum that parallel your Earth. In Thundarr's Earth there has been a great tragedy. But then again, the tragedy may never happen!"

Gandalf then closed the portal.

"Now go. Return to London to celebrate the dawning of a new era for your people. It is a great time."

As Watt prepared to leave for London a meeting was taking place at the headquarters of Anglo-Force. Sir Angus-Campbell Bannerman, the Home Secretary, was paying an unexpected visit. This visit did not please Anglo-Force's leader, Chameleon.

"You just can't waltz in here like you own the place!" he protested.

"In effect I do own the place." said Sir Angus. "The cabinet held a special meeting two days before Christmas. Since the resignation of Captain Watt, the injury to Mr. X and the disappearance of Dr. Magus you have taken no steps to recruit new members. The P.M. is becoming increasingly annoyed at your lack of action. Therefore we have taken it upon ourselves to recruit new members for you."

"Now wait a minute! Our charter prohibits any government choosing of our members. We recruit them!"

"Your charter is in danger of being revoked. Your budget is stretched to the limit, especially after the attack on your headquarters by the Black Squadron. The government cannot afford to keep repairing this building."

Sir Angus then put his hand into his pocket. He pulled out an official looking piece of paper.

"This is a summons, ordering you and your solicitor, Arthur Pendragon, to appear before the Commons select committee on crime in two weeks. You will be asked many difficult questions. There are some on that committee who would like nothing more than to see Anglo-Force disbanded. If you continue on your present course those on the committee will get their wish."

Aboard the Monstron vessel they were keeping a track on their strange device.

"It is currently circling the country known as Great Britain." reported the helmsman. "It has localised the position of the target."

"But it hasn't found him yet!" shouted Chaney. "I knew we shou3ld not have used that Ferengi device!"

Then there was a beeping sound from the helm control panel.

"The device is now within five kilometres of the target."

"Activate sphere." Chaney ordered. "It should soon tune into his brainwaves!"

From the Earth's surface the flying device was still undetected, because of the cloaking device. It flew low above the streets of London, it's sensors trying to find it's target. Then it made an abrupt U-turn. It seemed that it had found it's target. Within a matter of minutes it was flying over the Surrey countryside. A few seconds after that and it was hovering about the Anglo-Force mansion.

"Brainwave patterns match." said the Monstron helmsman. It has found the target!"

"Excellent!" smiled Chaney. "Activate the sphere!"

The helmsman pressed a button on his panel. A small light flashed.

"The device is activated."

Inside the Anglo-Force mansion Woodwose sat in his quarters. Unknown to him the strange alien device now hovered outside his window. Woodwose did not notice the glow that appeared for a few seconds. Then the glow was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Then, a blinding surge of pain ripped through Woodwose's skull. He clasped his head, and let out a huge cry of pain.

Elsewhere, Sir Angus Campbell-Bannerman was preparing to leave for London when the noise of Woodwose's cry roared throughout the building.

"What the hell is that?" he asked.

Suddenly there was a high crash. The door to Woodwose's quarters suddenly flew out. Then, just as the dust began to settle, the mighty figure of Woodwose stepped out. His head was hung low, but when he looked up you could tell that this was not the same Woodwose. Gone was the look of intelligence, the look of a being of high I.Q.. This was replaced by a look of sheer savagery. The hundreds of years it had taken Woodwose's race to develop intelligence seemed to have gone in a matter of seconds. Woodwose had returned to his former, natural self. The Monstron device had done it's task. Now total chaos would ensue.

The first ones into the corridor were White Knight and Star Man. They could not believe their eyes.

"Hey Woody! What's going on?" asked Star Man.

Woodwose stared at his comrade. A look of sheer hatred appeared on his face, and with one mighty swipe he knocked Star Man through three walls. White Knight could not believe what was going on. With Excalibur in his hand he took a swipe at Woodwose, bringing the blade down on Woodwose's arm. Woodwose just stared at White Knight. White Knight knew he had no chance against a foe as strong as Woodwose. He slowly began to back off. Just as he began to back off a laser blast ripped into the shoulder of Woodwose. Woodwose turned around, and he saw Chameleon standing there, laser piston in hand. Woodwose let out a huge roar. Suddenly he felt cramped, confined by the walls of the mansion. He crouched down, and with one mighty leap flew out of the building, crashing through a further three floors. He landed on the ground outside the mansion. He then leapt into the air again, heading toward London. As he moved toward London the Monstron device followed him. Chameleon raced out of the front door and aimed his laser pistol at the departing Woodwose, but it was no good because he was too far away.

"Star Man! White Knight! Quickly! We've go to get after him!" cried Chameleon.

Half an hour passed. The might form of Woodwose flew high across Leicester Square. The authorities had been warned, but they had no idea where Woodwose was going. Suddenly he landed in the middle of Leicester Square. There was a huge crash as he landed. He looked around him, watching the people flee in sheer terror. Drivers abandoned their cars, not wishing to get caught up in the chaos. Woodwose picked up one of these cars and tossed it into the air as if it were a rag doll. He continued in this way for the next few minutes, and then, police cars began to arrive. Out of the first car stepped Inspector Paul Solo, who was very experienced in this sort of situation. At first he could not believe his eyes.

"It can't be! Not Woodwose!"

There were about fifty police marksmen on the scene. They waited for Solo to give the order to open fire, but Solo hesitated.

"We've got to fire! He's tearing up the place!"

"Where the bloody hell are Anglo-Force when you need them?"

Solo's question was soon answered. Flying above Leicester Square was Star Man. He aimed his hands at Woodwose and let go one of his nova blasts. It struck Woodwose on the back. Woodwose turned around and saw Star Man hovering above him. He picked up a car and threw it at Star Man. He just managed to destroy it with another nova blast. While Star Man was diverting Woodwose's attention White Knight had leapt off his winged horse Galador, and he connected with a kick to Woodwose's head. White Knight landed on the ground a few feet away from Woodwose, and he took Excalibur out of it's sheath. Woodwose swung around, raised his arm and tried to hit White Knight. He only managed to save himself by bringing Excalibur to meet Woodwose's might arm. Then, as if from out of nowhere, Chameleon materialized. He held his laser pistol in front of him and fired at Woodwose. Woodwose swung around again, and with one swing of his arm knocked Chameleon flying. The Anglo-Force leader went flying against a wall and was knocked out cold. Another nova blast from Star Man ripped into the ground next Woodwose, but this time Woodwose did not miss his target with the tossed car. Star Man was also slumped on the ground. This left only White Knight to combat the threat of Woodwose. With great agility and speed White Knight managed to dodge any blow that Woodwose tried to connect with. Then, with Excalibur, White Knight tried to connect with a few of his own. But the mighty blade of Excalibur had almost no effect won the skin of Woodwose. Each attempt at an attack on Woodwose's body with Excalibur was stopped by a huge forearm. While White Knight was not doing any harm to Woodwose, Woodwose was not inflicting any damage on White Knight. Then, White Knight hesitated for a split second, and this gave Woodwose his chance. With just one swing of his arm Woodwose sent White Knight flying. It was then that Solo gave the order to open fire. Woodwose let out a huge cry as the bullets of fifty rifles just seemed to bounce off him. All this seemed to do was make Woodwose angrier than he was. The marksmen continued with their barrage of bullets. As they fired they did not notice that one of the bullets seemed to stop in mid-air, as if it had hit an invisible object. In fact it had hit the Monstron device. Another hit from another bullet knocked out the device's cloaking device, which had in fact been the reason for Woodwose's rampage had been taken out, Woodwose continued on his rampage. This time it was his turn to attack the marksmen.

Just as this battle was taking place James Watt was arriving in the skies of London. With a small suitcase in his hand he flew above London at high speed, hoping to quickly get to his Kensington flat. He flew over Leicester Square and at first he did not notice the battle below. Then, just out of sheer curiosity he decided to turn back. He hovered above Leicester Square and at first he couldn't believe his eyes. Was that really Woodwose down there, tearing the hell out of the police? He decided to look further. A couple of seconds later he confirmed what he had seen. It was, indeed, Woodwose battling the police, and he could also see the fallen Chameleon, Star Man and White Knight lying nearby. Woodwose was preparing to launch his final attack, and Watt knew he had to act now. Quickly, he landed between Woodwose and the police. Woodwose stopped in his tracks and stared into Watt's eyes. Watt knew he was about to face his greatest challenge. It seemed that Woodwose knew this would be his greatest test.


End file.
